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Pillay named for pre-Olympic camp
Sandeep, Jatinder Pal have shown potential: Gill Indo-Pak hockey Test series in Sept
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Rebels to sue ZCU over sacking
Temperamental Safin
overcomes Grosjean Serena torn between acting, tennis JCT, Mahindras settle for a draw
English soccer clubs playthings of rich Hoogenband posts fastest heat time Two boxers book tickets for Athens
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Pillay named for pre-Olympic camp IHF President KPS Gill, under attack from various quarters for ignoring the 35-year-old striker, however, denied that the latest move was a stand-down on its part and refused to confirm whether Pillay was a certainty for the Olympics, beginning in Athens in August. “If his (Pillay’s) physical endurance in even 80 per cent, he will play,” the IHF chief told reporters here even as an experimental team prepared to leave for Japan for a four- nation tournament later tonight. “(It’s) not a stand-down. I have been saying for years that there must be different training schedules for different players,” he said. “The camp is not for proving Pillay’s fitness or for that matter anyone’s fitness. We want to enhance the physical endurance of the players. It is to assess what Pillay is capable of and what he has achieved,” Gill said of the camp which will be initially held for nine key players in Cologne from May 27 to June 21. The other players who would be going to Germany for the first phase of training are Baljit Singh Dhillon, Dilip Tirkey, Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh, Sandeep Singh, Jatinder Pal Singh and Devesh Chauhan. These players, who would be trained by German coaches, would be joined later by another 14 before the team is announced for a 4-nation tournament in Holland. The players would be joined in Germany by 14 others after June 12, Gill said adding that a 14-member team, would be picked there for a four-nation tournament at Holland in July. “Players at Barog camp would go to Chandigarh for another camp from May 27. Fourteen players from Chandigarh would join the key players at Germany for a training camp. After the tournament at Holland they will come back and again resume training.” Gill also said that the future of coach Rajinder Singh would depend on how India perform in the Olympics. “It will depend on India’s performance in Olympics. All in the team, be it the coach or the players, have to be result-oriented.” On expert drag-flickers Sandeep Singh and Jatinder Pal Singh, Gill said the duo has a “realistic” chance of making it to the Games. “Jatinder had a good tour of Australia and Sandeep was impressive in the junior Asia Cup. They have
reached a certain level. Their game as defenders has also improved. These two are certyainly making a lot of progress,” he said. Gill said it would be difficult to say whether Jugraj Singh, who has been asked to join the Barog camp, could play, but if he made progress, he could join his team-mates at Germany. “It is difficult to say whether Jugraj can play. But he has tremendous will power. He himself wanted to join the camp. We will watch him at Barog before deciding on whether to send him to Germany.”
— PTI
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Sandeep, Jatinder Pal have shown potential: Gill
‘’You can’t predict anything about Jugraj. He’s got tremendous will power. Nobody expected him to recover so fast after the tragedy but see. He said he was fit and that’s why I asked Jothikumaran (IHF secretary) to ask him to join the camp. But realistically speaking, it’s very difficult to say anything about his chances to play in the Olympics. But I have my faith on these two players — Sandeep Singh and Jatinder Pal Singh.’’ Drag-flick expert Sandeep was the highest scorer in the recently concluded Junior Asia Cup which India won beating hosts Pakistan at Karachi. ‘’After Jugraj’s accident, we tried Len Ayappa (as penalty corner expert) and he played well in Malaysia but did not do well in the later international assignments. These two are young players and they have reached a level where they need to be groomed. And the camp in Germany would do them a world of good,’’ Mr Gill said. Meanwhile, the IHF chief also reiterated that this was his last term at the helm in the organisation. ‘’I think I have too many other works and it’s very difficult for me to continue. So I have decided not to give it another shot.’’ he added. — UNI
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Indo-Pak hockey Test series in Sept
New Delhi, May 11 According to Indian Hockey Federation chief
K.P.S. Gill, India would host the four-match Test series in September after which India would cross the border to play the same number of matches in Pakistan. Gill said the IHF and the Pakistan Hockey Federation were spurred by the success of the recently held cricket series between the two countries in Pakistan and the visit of junior hockey team to that country, where it won its maiden Asia Cup title. “The Indo-Pak Test series will not only help the players but also rekindle the interest and passion for the game in both the countries,” Gill told reporters here. The much-awaited Test series would be an annual affair, Gill said adding the venues for the four Tests in India were yet to be decided. The IHF chief said the series would also ensure financial gains for the Indian players. “This series will be boon for the Indian players who would stand to gain Rs 1 lakh each within 20 days.” Even though both the sides have played each other in multi-nation competitions, they met for the last time in a bilateral series in 1999 when Pakistan beat India 6-3 in a nine-match Test series.
— PTI |
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Rebels to sue ZCU over sacking
Harare, May 11 The players’ legal representative Chris Venturas confirmed that the players would go to court over yesterday’s sackings after the ZCU decided they had violated an ultimatum laid down by the governing body ordering them to make themselves available for selection. “We are taking them (ZCU) to court over this,” Venturas said yesterday. “We decided right away we would go the distance and an advocate will be briefed as soon as possible. “We knew about their ultimatum to return to duties by May 7 but this was a shock in view of our impending written acceptance of mediation, which we were going to deliver on Tuesday morning and which they knew was going to happen.” The ultimatum was given to the players three weeks ago by ZCU chairman Peter Chingoka, who told them if they didn’t resume practice and make themselves available for selection by May 7 action would be taken against them. A statement issued by the ZCU said the sacking was because the players had failed to respect the ultimatum. “As a result the contracts of these 15 players have been terminated,” it stated. In practice, however, there are only 12 cricketers involved as three have already gone overseas seeking employment. The ZCU statement, approved by the Board of Directors yesterday, offered any of the players who are individually committed to apply for their jobs back, “subject to form and fitness.” The dispute began on April 2 when former captain Heath Streak verbally objected to certain members of the national selection panel. He was immediately fired by Directors who publicly expressed their anger. In response, all the white players, with the exception of Mark Vermeulen, demanded his reinstatement together with changes to the selection panel. A five weeks old impasse developed.
— AFP |
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McGrath hopes for Zimbabwe resolution
Brisbane, May 11 Twelve Zimbabwe cricketers are to sue the ZCU after being sacked yesterday and will issue a writ in a few days alleging breach of contract. An ultimatum was given to the players three weeks ago by ZCU chairman Peter Chingoka, who told them if they didn’t resume practice and make themselves available for selection by May 7 action would be taken against them. A statement issued by the ZCU yesterday said the sacking was because the players had failed to respect the ultimatum. The escalation of the dispute increases the prospects of Australia playing a second-string Zimbabwe side on the two Test, three one-day international tour. — AFP
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Windies hindered by injuries, says Lara
Port of Spain (Trinidad), May 11 Bangladesh have arrived for a two-Test series expected to offer some local relief. Though dismal batting was at the core of the West Indies’ flops against England, notwithstanding Lara’s own record 400 not out in Antigua after the series was already decided, the skipper highlighted missing injured bowlers in his regular column for the Trinidad Guardian yesterday. Lara noted Jermaine Lawson, one of the region’s fastest bowlers, whose action needed remedial work after he was reported against Australia a year ago when he strained his back, and off-spinning allrounder Omari Banks, who departed from the South Africa tour with a back stress fracture. Also sidelined from that tour were fast bowler Jerome Taylor (back), and batsmen Wavell Hinds (groin) and Marlon Samuels (knee). None became fit enough to play England, but Lawson, Banks and Hinds have been named in warm-up matches against Bangladesh. Banks’ absence was underlined when the West Indies did not have a strong spinner in the fourth Test against England in Antigua last month, which could have brought a win instead of a draw, according to Lara. “In hindsight, we would have cruised to victory in that match if we had the services of any specialist spinner on such a pitch,” he said. He said the injuries have disrupted the team’s line-up. “In every team there is a core of players who make for its existence and when that becomes fragile, the team obviously suffers,” Lara wrote. “As captain of the West Indies team I found myself having to rearrange that core because of absent players through injuries. In any normal situation the senior players would look after themselves and also take one or two younger players under their wings.” But even a toll was taken of senior players, including the vastly experienced Shivnarine
Chanderpaul, who was dropped from the fourth Test against England because of fatigue, but returned to play well in the one-day series. The West Indies, eighth in the 10-team world rankings, play last-ranked Bangladesh in the first of three one-day internationals on Saturday in St. Vincent.
— AP |
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Anwar refutes reports of quitting Islamabad, May 11 “The incident has been blown out of proportion. There was a slight misunderstanding but it was not a big issue. I never left my assignment in protest,” he told reporters at Lahore. A section of the media reported that Anwar had left his coaching assignment at the Lahore-based academy in protest after security guards and a senior official of the academy misbehaved with his brother. The former opening batsman was appointed batting coach for two special courses of 16 weeks’ duration for under-17 and under-19 players at the NCA at a monthly salary of Rs 50,000. “I think the incident has been played up a lot. I never abandoned my assignment because I am enjoying it,” the 35-year-old said.
— PTI |
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Temperamental
Safin overcomes Grosjean
Hamburg, May 11 The 24-year-old Russian continued his attempt to regain the pinnacle with a tempestuous 7-6 (8/6), 7-5 win yesterday over Sebastien
Grosjean, the eighth-seeded Frenchman, who held two set points in the first set and led 5-1 in the
tie-break. Grosjean was not the only seed to exit on the first day of the tournament as Paradorn Srichaphan’s miserable claycourt season continued as he went out in straight sets to Olivier Rochus while the Czech Republic’s Jiri Novak was another high-profile casualty going down to Germany’s wild card entrant Florian Mayer in three sets. The day’s last match saw the end of Australian 10th seed Mark
Philippoussis, as he went out 6-7 (5/7), 1-6 to 21-year-old Swedish hope Joachim Johansson, who comes from the birthplace of tennis legend Bjorn Borg,
Sodertalje, near Stockholm. Safin was not happy with his play despite his battling performance. “Neither of us played well,” claimed
Safin. “It was a nightmare to play this kind of tennis. He should have won that first set.”
Safin nevertheless fought hard from 2-5 down in that set, playing out a large number of consistent rallies, broke back tenaciously when Grosjean was serving for it at 5-3, and produced a model point to save the set when he was advantage point down on his serve at 4-5. But his frustration boiled over when he missed a chance to reach set point in the next game, sending a forehand drive into the net from inside the baseline, and putting a moderate return of serve into the net on the next point. He hurled his racket down, cracking the frame, and just in case the umpire had not seen it whacked it against the net post right under the officials eyes. The code of conduct warning became inevitable. He then played a model point to save the second set point at 5-6 in the tie-break, grabbed his first set point with a heavy serve, and broke Grosjean again in the final game of the match. It was a patchy performance but by no means a bad one and Safin’s self-critical reaction indicated the intensity of his desire to climb from his current position of world No 21. It also suggested that the system of a $ 150 fine to his coach for every racket broken, which Safin used to operate with Mats
Wilander, will not apply to his new mentor Peter Lundgren. “I can’t change — I’m too old,” said the 24-year-old, smiling at last. He then cheered up as he began to talk about his fortnight-old professional relationship with Roger Federer’s former coach. “We don’t know how it will work. I have to make sure I don’t bother him, and he doesn’t bother me,” he said wryly. “But we will try to work together until Wimbledon and see what
happens.” Paradorn was beaten 3-6, 4-6 by Rochus, who overcame three top 20 players to reach the quarterfinals last year, and who again found the heavy conditions on Hamburg’s slow clay to his
liking. Rochus had time to weave all sorts of fluent patterns and many of Paradorn’s attempts to attack became ensnared in a web of well-masked ground strokes from the diminutive Belgian. The defending champion, Guillermo Coria also looked as though he might fall at the first hurdle, but narrowly survived. The second-seeded Argentine was a set down and 1-2 down in the second against Nicolas
Almagro, an 18-year-old Spanish qualifier. Almagro hit hard and fought spiritedly back from 3-5 down to five-all in the final set before Coria — who was returning to the circuit after picking up an injury when he won the Monte Carlo Masters last month - edged him out 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Earlier, Juan Carlos
Ferrero, the third-seeded former French Open champion from Spain, withdrew after having a wrist placed in a cast, suggesting that his defence at Roland Garros starting in two weeks time may be in doubt.
— AFP |
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Serena torn between acting, tennis
Rome, May 11 “That’s an unfair question,’’ said the 22-year-old handed a bye as top seed at this week’s $ 1.3 million Italian Masters. The former world No 1 is back on court after a recurrence of knee problems which kept her away in recent weeks following a tournament victory in March at Miami. But the 2002 titleholder at the Foro Italico - who has played only three events since taking eight months out of the game following an August left knee operation — hinted that film-making could be on her agenda for the autumn after the US Open. Williams last appeared on court a month ago when her knee flared up before a third-round match in the USA. She insists that the appointment on the clay of Paris starting in a fortnight is top of her agenda -for now. “I can picture myself at Roland Garros, practising and playing,’’ said Williams. “I have a great chance in Paris, if I didn’t I shouldn’t go. I also love Wimbledon, I can’t wait to go to London and compete.’’ But the spectre of a film and television career refuses to die down for Williams, who is no stranger to long, sometimes unexplained, absences from the sport. “I (hope) to be doing a movie this fall, I do have some offers,’’ she said. “One is action and the other is a comedy-drama.’’ Williams called movie-making “more physical than tennis.’’ “It’s really physical, I’d have to be in really good shape. You have to do the action over and over again.’’ Williams insists that she is equally drawn between sport and entertainment stardom. “I can’t choose between acting and tennis. But if I had to, I’d probably chose tennis. I do it so well, it’s my love. I’ve been playing it all my life and I don’t want to give it up.’’ — DPA
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JCT, Mahindras settle for a draw Ludhiana, May 11 Badly in need of victory today, Mahindra United under the watchful eyes of foreign coach David Booth went all out from the outset but failed to get the better of the JCT defence manned by stopper backs KV Dhanesh and Musa
Aliu. Mahindra United took the field in full strength bringing in Covan Lawrence, formerly of
Salgaocar, Arun Malhotra and Odartey Lawson in the defence. Steven
Dias, Hekmat Singh and international S. Venkatesh marshalled the midfield effectively while the attack was spearheaded by skipper Khalid
Jamil, Raphael Patron Akakpo, and Felix Aboagye. Naseem Akhtar did duty under the bar in the absence of first choice goalkeeper Kalyan
Chaubey. JCT, on the other hand, badly missed the services of internationals Joe Paul Ancheri and IM
Vijayan. While Ancheri was out having picked his second yellow card in the earlier tie, Vijayan is yet to recover from the injury sustained some time back. Nevertheless, JCT gave a good account of themselves and seldom seemed to be overawed by the rivals’ strength. While Mansuru Mohammed was alert under the bar, KV Dhanesh and Musa Aliu kept the rival forwards in check through gallant rearguard action. The spotlight was on the forwardline where Nigerian striker Stephan Abarowei played a dominant role assisted by the diminutive
Baldip, Harvinder and Jaswinder Singh. Both the teams got some good chances which ultimately proved to be of no avail. After a midfield battle for supremacy, Mahindras got the first good chance in the 21st minute when a cross from the right was sought to be converted by Felix Aboagye but his snap shot landed in the safe hands of
Mansuru. This was followed by another long-ranger by S. Venkatesh. A counter-attack by JCT saw Stephan Abarowei attempting a header which was easily collected by Akhtar. This was followed by another attempt by Harvinder but a defender made a goal-line save. In the 38th minute, a power-packed long ranger by Stephan bounced off Akhtar’s hands and off the rebound, Jaswinder made another attempt but this time the goalkeeper was alert to thwart the move. Four minutes into the second session, JCT had a golden chance when Manjit Singh received a cross but despite an open goal in front, he shot wide. Towards the end, JCT made a couple of substitutions bringing in Surjit Singh in place of Baldip Singh and Charanjit Kumar in place of Stephan Abarowei but the complexion of the game remained
unchanged. Mahindras also brought in international Jules Alberto at the fag end but he also could not do much to change his team’s fortunes.
JCT’s Managing Director Samir Thapar, who is recovering from a road accident, was also present. Mr RS Gill, ADGP, president, Basketball Federation of India, was the chief guest. |
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English soccer clubs playthings of rich
London, May 11 News that Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is set to buy a $ 100 million stake in Liverpool is the latest example of just what a global phenomenon English football has become. Thaksin is a former telecommunications tycoon who also showed an interest in buying Fulham earlier his year. He says the Premier League’s huge popularity in Asia will enable a company formed with other private investors to profit from use of “the Liverpool brand”. While the commercial opportunities are clear — many leading clubs are frantically forging links in China, Japan and south-east Asia — Thaksin’s investment is likely to have as much to do with status by association. With an estimated $ 1 billon to his name, what better way to spend some of it than on buying a stake in one of the world’s most famous football clubs? Roman Abramovich certainly thought it was a good idea, the Russian billionaire investing hundreds of millions of pounds at Chelsea in his out-of-the-blue takeover last year. “I don’t want to throw my money away but it’s really about having fun and that means trophies,” Abramovich said at the time. His investment, a tiny fraction of his estimated $ 5 billion fortune, has failed to bring home any silverware in the first season but it is only a matter of time, and the casually-dressed Russian certainly seems to enjoy his trips to Stamford Bridge. Egyptian businessman and Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, usually at odds with the British establishment, managed at least to buy the respect of Fulham fans after his $ 177 million investment helped to turn the club from third-division strugglers to a top-10 Premier League team. The idea of a rich benefactor coming in to revolutionise a flagging club remains the dream of many fans, though desperation sometimes blurs reality. Sheikh Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, a member of Bahrain’s royal family, briefly appeared as the saviour of debt-riddled Leeds United last year until his interest proved no more than a mirage. Talk of a Venezuelan billionaire taking over Aston Villa turned out to be based on similarly sandy foundations while a bid for Manchester United by Russian senator and businessman Ralif Safin failed to materialise. United, the football “brand” that surpasses all others in the world and is particularly strong in Asia, remains the ultimate cherry and the club are regularly involved in takeover speculation. United, who earn around £ 700,000 from every home match, are the world’s richest sports club and enjoyed revenues of around £ 175 million last season. It is hard to believe that when businessman Michael Knighton famously juggled the ball on the Old Trafford pitch at the time of his planned takeover in 1989 he had agreed to buy the club for just £ 20 million. In those days, when stock market floatations and multi-million-pound satellite television rights deals were distant dreams, even the biggest clubs were generally owned by local dignitaries and businessmen. Their dealings remained low-key and their involvement tended to be a labour of love. Few clubs made money and the role of the director was generally seen as putting his hand in his pocket to finance occasional ground developments and the odd transfer. Liverpool, owned for more than 50 years by the Moores family who made their fortune from the locally-based Littlewoods pools and shopping empire, have managed to move with the times but shareholder disgruntlement is growing. The club have won a record 18 league championship titles but supporter frustration at their current inability to compete with Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea led chairman David Moores to say in January he would consider selling some of his 51 per cent stake. Fans want trophies and are much less concerned these days about who pulls the strings behind the scenes, but even the most broad-minded of the Anfield faithful must be wondering if their salvation really lies in Bangkok.
— Reuters |
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Hoogenband posts
fastest heat time
Madrid, May 11 The 26-year-old Dutchman, who won the 100 and 200 freestyle at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, shrugged off the poolside chill and clocked the fastest heat time of 49.47 seconds to lead the qualifiers for the evening’s semi-finals. As fellow swimmers and spectators huddled in the banked stands in thick coats and waterproofs, the warmest place was in the water. Switzerland’s Karel Novy and Russia’s Andrei Kapralov both clocked 49.80 in the penultimate heat in the second-fastest overall time. Alexander Popov, who lost his Olympic 100 freestyle title to Van den Hoogenband in Sydney but regained his world crown when he beat the Dutchman into second place in Barcelona last year, is not contesting the event in Madrid. Popov, silver medallist behind Van den Hoogenband at the 2002 European championships in Berlin, is racing only the 50 freestyle. Malia Metella, who anchored France to victory in Monday’s 4x100 metres freestyle relay, led semi-final qualifiers in the women’s 100 freestyle with the fastest heat time of 55.63 as she began her bid to add the long-course title to the European short-course crown she won in Dublin last December. World champion Hanna-Maria Seppala of Finland settled for ninth among the 16 qualifiers, finishing fourth in the last heat which was won by 2002 silver medallist Martina Moravcova of Slovakia, in 56.16. Italy’s Federica Pellegrini was second fastest on aggregate in 55.75. Franziska van Almsick, winner in Berlin in 2002, is among the German swimmers who have skipped these championships to concentrate on preparations for the Olympics for which the national trials will be held in early June.
— Reuters |
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Two boxers book tickets for Athens
New Delhi, May 11 In the bantamweight category, Diwakar Prasad outpunched his Jordanian opponent while Vijender defeated his counterpart from Iran in the light welterweight semifinal, according to a press release by the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation here. Vijender had defeated Qatar’s Alhadi Abdul Rahman 35-9 in the quarterfinals. All the 18 finalists from the event will qualify for the Olympics beginning in Athens on August 13. Around 150 Asian boxers from 32 countries are vying for as many as 62 Olympic berths from Asia. Indian will now have four pugilists in Athens as Akhil Kumar (flyweight) and Jitender (lightheavy) have already made the grade via the first two Asian qualifying events in Philippines and China. However, the biggest disappointment for India has been the inability of its top boxer and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Mohammad Ali Qamar to qualify for the Olympics after his controversial first round exit from the Karachi event.
— PTI |
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New Delhi, May 11
New Delhi, May 11
